Communication on the adoption of the ATCO licensing Regulation
Commission Regulation (EU) No 805/2011 of 10 August 2011 laying down detailed rules for air traffic controllers’ licenses and certain certificates pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 11 August 2011.
The new Regulation enters into force on 31 August 2011, the 20th day following its publication and shall be binding and directly applicable in all Member States.
Based on its mandate determined by the European legislator, the European Aviation Safety Agency (hereafter referred as ‘the Agency’) has proposed, in its Opinion No 3/2010 on 28 May 2010, to establish a Commission Regulation laying down implementing rules for the licensing and medical certification of air traffic controllers. This draft proposal has been further developed by the European Commission in close cooperation with the Agency and Member States until its adoption on 10 August 2011.
The entry into force of this Regulation marks a new era in the field of ATCO licensing. This subject has so far been based on a European Directive dating from 2006 and requiring national transposition by every Member State. With this new Regulation being directly applicable in all Member States, a truly harmonised regulatory framework has been established. It shall contribute to the achievement of a high and uniform level of civil aviation safety across the Member States by abolishing potentially different as well as diverging national transposition levels and methods. Furthermore, it shall facilitate mutual trust and thus mutual recognition of the licences and certificates issued in accordance with this Regulation throughout Europe.
The Agency strongly believes that commonly applicable standards will enhance the free movement of persons and services, thus the mobility of air traffic controllers, which has a high priority on the European Union’s agenda. The new Regulation states explicitly the Europe-wide obligation to recognise air traffic controller and student air traffic controller licences, their associated ratings and endorsements, including the language endorsement, as well as the medical certificates, provided that they have been issued in accordance with this Regulation.
The provisions of the new Regulation are built on the previous Directive with the aim to ensure continuity. However, at the same time, the Agency proposed to take into account the state of the art, best practices and scientific as well as technical progress available in this domain, especially in the field of air traffic controller training since 2006. Care has been taken that changes are limited to the absolute unavoidable and providing for the necessary adaptation period for air navigation service providers, training organisations or national supervisory authorities. Grandfathering of privileges of previously acquired licences, ratings, endorsements and certificates is also ensured via the transitional arrangements.
With regard to air traffic controller training, the new Regulation updates the reference to Eurocontrol’s ‘Specifications for the ATCO Common Core Content Initial Training’ and makes the use of its edition of 2008 mandatory, which has been a desire of stakeholders since long time. A one year transition period is provided for affected stakeholders in order to undertake the necessary changes in their systems.
The new Regulation provides legal basis for the standardisation inspections whose purpose is to ensure the safe and uniform application of common rules and to assist authorities in their safety oversight role. The Agency will become the competent authority in the tasks attributed to it by law, namely for non-European ATCO training organisations. The new Regulation also advises Member States, subject to their own consent, to apply its provisions on a national basis to those air traffic controllers who are not in the scope of common European rules.
However, regulatory work does not stop at this stage. The Agency is currently working together with stakeholders, Eurocontrol and the European Commission on further development of the European ATCO licensing scheme with the aim to further detail and harmonise training requirements, ensure their consistent interpretation and to include provisions on instructor and assessor certification. Further open consultations with stakeholders and interested parties are foreseen for 2012 with the aim to propose complementary elements to this Regulation for 2014-2015.
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